Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703-1771)

Biography

Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703-1771), generally regarded as the most talented of the three Graun brothers (August Friedrich 1699-1765, organist and composer, and Carl Heinrich 1704-1759, tenor singer and composer), was a violinist and composer, student of Johann Georg Pisendel (1687-1755) and Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1779). In 1740 he became the conductor of the Royal Orchestra in Berlin, a position he held for the remainder of his life. Until today, only a few of his works have ever been published, even though musicians and musicologists are in unanimous agreement that he was a great composer, albeit an unrecognized one.